Budapest to Amsterdam with Vantage

[Hydrokitty]

Just got back from our first river cruise ever and are we spoiled! Vantage was great, no complaints. We were on the Odyssey, which was lovely and very comfortable. Our tour managers (ours was Lubo) were excellent. Lubo especially was very patient and understanding of the senior citizen travel needs. I would say the average age on board was between 60-75. We all seemed pretty active and well-traveled, just slower than we used to be! Food on board was quite good. Breakfast was always buffet with plenty of choices of hot or cold cereal, wonderful breads, a delicious breakfast cake with almond flavor and a very thin chocolate icing, scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage and made to order eggs and omelets. I introduced the chef to a NY scramble, which he made for me several times (eggs with mushrooms, onions, peppers, cheese mixed in but scrambled not omelet). Lunch was either buffet or "set" lunch. It was pretty obvious that many of us on board were not familiar with "set" lunch and the day we spent sailing when they called lunch, very few of us left the deck and went! Then came the polite message explaining that set lunch means everybody to the dining room NOW! Lunch consisted of hot or cold soups (yummy) and either a hot lunch or sandwich. Lesson learned: do not order a BLT in Europe! They tried to improve it by using some kind of horseradishy mustard. Or you could have salad, cold cuts, etc. from the buffet daily. Dinner was a little disappointing for me. Food was beautifully presented but there are only 3 foods I don't eat under any circumstances: fish, veal and duck/goose and they served all of them, several times....people were beginning to think I was a vegetarian! Service was great....very attentive without being annoying and waiters were very friendly and funny! Cabin (upgraded to A-2) was very clean and comfortable with loads of storage space. French balcony was nice, you could open the doors and get fresh air.

 

The choice of tours was wonderful and just when you thought you couldn't take it any more, we had 1/2 day off! Highlights were the Fishermen's Bastion in Budapest; Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, which is absolutely breathtaking. We were at Versailles with a group last year and several people remarked that Versailles was nice but Schonbrunn nicer. They were right! The concert with selections for orchestra, opera and ballet at the Kapsalon was fantastic and a spectacular high-light for many of us. I have to admit that by the time we got to Passau I was done with walking tours so I left the group and went shopping! Lubo sent me to a little place that had wonderful stuff, good prices and shipped!!!! I am proud to say my Christmas shopping is done! I did attend the organ concert though and it was wonderful. Regensburg was nice, Nuremberg better, I would have liked to have visited (and sat in) the court room where the trials took place but it is still an active court room and not opened to the public. Bamberg was delightful. We went to a "monastery" (maybe 5000 years ago, today a brewery!) and had a blast and the best beer and meal on the trip! Rothenburg turned out to be having a medieval fest on the day we visited and that was a real bonus. People in costume doing things as they were done in medieval times. we really had a good time there. Wertheim was also delightful and while I skipped the glass blowing demonstration on board, because after all, I've seen glass blowing in Corning, Ny and Venice, what could he have that I haven't already seen, right. Wrong.....I bought some of the best gifts from him! Heidelberg was nice, but not what I expected so I was a little disappointed. I guess I had too much "Student Prince" on my mind. Took a gondola up to the Niederwald monument in Rudesheim. 90' in the air we were and once the shaking and terror stopped, it was really quite nice. Cologne has a beautiful cathedral, doesn't everybody in Europe? but the rest of the city was very modern. Last stop Amsterdam....it was pouring and we didn't have time to see any of the city as we were en route to the airport. All in all we were very happy with Vantage and will use them again in January when we go to Cairo and Jordan. :D :D

PS: To my cruise critic buddy.....sorry we never got to eat together. :(

Hydrokitty

[Suico]

Hi Hydrokitty!

We enjoyed hearing about your Vantage trip. We are going on the same trip in November, only in reverse-Amsterdam to Budapest. This will be our first riverboat trip so it made us feel we made the right choice with Vantage. Certainly the cost was right and when we compared what we rec'd with other companies, the choice was clear. The price included airfare from the West coast and all sightseeing trips. Most of the other companies charged extra for airfare and many of the sightseeing trips were optional and at additional cost. Our total cost was less than most of the other companies charged just for the cruise.

We are looking forward to seeing some of the sights you mentioned. I always make a DVD of our trips and I believe this one will be exceptional. Thanks again! :)

[Hydrokitty]

Should be beautiful along the rivers in the Fall with the colors....bring warm clothes and very sturdy walking shoes, cobblestones are lethal weapons! There are a couple of optional tours that will be offered on board. We only took one of them and that was to the monastery/brewery and it was worth the money....the food was outstanding and the cruise of the Danube River Gorge was beautiful and cannot be done by the Odyssey. Other optional involved a night out on a pub crawl and while everyone had a good time, it's just not our thing. Big tours, like Heidelburg and Schonbrunn Palace are included and you're right, all the other tour companies charge extra for them. Schonbrunn is amazing by the way, much nicer than Versailles. Let me know how you like it and of course, if you have any questions, just ask.

[Crowsnesters]

Hydrokitty-

Thank you, thank you for your review. We leave this Thursday for the same trip on the Odyssey. Sounds great. But 90 feet in the air to Niederwald monument! I did it in 1982 with an eight year old in tow and didn't I think it was that high. :o O well I did it once I can do it again. I know will my husband will want to get a picture. :)

[Crowsnesters]

Hdrokitty,

In case you check this before we leave. Where is the Danube River Gorge and what does it have to do with monastery/brewery? Beer is something we never drink under any cirumstances, and breweries have no interest, but the gorge sounds interesting.

[Hydrokitty]

There was an optional tour at Regensburg to a monastery/brewery that left after the town tour. It was great! I'm not a beer drinker either, but I drank more beer those two weeks than I had in my entire life (except college of course!). The beer was delicious, especially the light colored beer (as opposed to what we call lite beer). One of the bonuses of this optional tour was a boat ride through the Danube River Gorge which the Odyssey cannot go through. It was beautiful from the brewery to Kelheim. they pack the boat pretty full but everyone has a seat with a view and there's lots of indoor seating if it's cold or rainy. If you have the chance to take this tour, I recommend it, it was one of the best meals we had and you can always pass on the beer! Have a great trip....can't wait to hear about your trip.

[steamboats]

Crowsnesters,

 

The Danube Gorge is upriver on the Danube river from Kehlheim. Kehlheim is the place where the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal joins the Danube river.

 

Weltenburg Abbey is located on a sharp river bend. Besides the abbey and the beautiful church there´s a restaurant and brewery located in the building. They do make their own dark beer which is really worth tasting. They have a nice beergarden too.

 

http://www.areion.org/weltenburg/

http://www.klosterschenke-weltenburg.de/

http://www.weltenburger.de/

 

Upriver of Kehlheim there´s no commercial traffic. The Danube Gorge is a national park and only 5 local excurison boats are allowed to travel upriver.

 

steamboats

[Crowsnesters]

Thank you for the information. The Danube gorge sounds lovely, and I looked at the web sites. The monastery and restarant sound great. Neither my husband nor I drink much alcohol but in case of beer both of us just don't like the taste. In my case it is more like some people just don't eat a certain food. It is a long story that I will not tell. I have tasted dunkel and know that it tastes a lot different than American beer but just as bad to my taste. I know I'm weird. Will decide at the time if the over all experience is worth the price but glad to know what is involved so we won't reject it out of hand. We are all packed and ready to go, but we have guests coming from England three days after we get back so it will be a while before I post. Steamboats, we are taking them to Columbia Gorge ( I read your review of the Columbuia Queen) which is about 30 miles from us.

[steamboats]

Crowsnesters,

 

But don´t expect anything like the Columbia river gorge. It´s way smaller :).

 

We´ve enjoyed our trip on the Columbia river very much. If you ever get a chance do it especially as you´re living in the area. I was highly impressed by the beautiful landscape which changed so rapidly from rain forests to desert.

 

steamboats

[Dehaven]

:)

Greetings From a Fellow Passenger..........

I want to congratulate you on your excellent report on our Vantage cruise.It saved me from making a report.I'm sorry we never really hooked up even though we were part of the Blue group.I don't even have your name but looking at the passenger list I think you are from Hicksville NY.

For some reason I never got a copy of the crew list such as Rest. mgr,Captain etc.Do you have such info?

[Hydrokitty]

Hello, hello...fellow traveler, so glad to hear from you! It is amazing how close we were and how our paths only crossed that one time on the bus!!! Anyway, using the passenger list, we're from Holbrook, not Hicksville.....no, I never got a list of the crew....all I know is Captain Alex was a dead ringer for Putin!!! and I have a photo to prove it.....contact me directly at chydro564@yahoo.com with your e-mail info. and I'd be happy to get back to you.:) :)

[Kuskokwim]

Hello,

 

I'm leaving for this trip on Friday. Is there any reason to take a laptop. I know they don't have on board Internet, but are there hotspots when docked in the ports?

 

Thanks,

 

Karl

[Hydrokitty]

I assume you're going on Vantage Odyssey so, they have limited computer access on board to the extent that you can send and receive e-mails but you cannot "go on line". We were concerned about hurricane while on our trip and I was able to send an e-mail to my petsitter and I received an answer from her. Now, the charge is to send and I think it was 1 euro per message, copies to up to 3 addresses included and received e-mails free. Unless you absolutely must have your lap top so you can work:confused: while on board, I would leave it home for several reasons:

 

1. it tends to get heavy lugging around the airport

2. it's always a tempting item to steal and it will NOT fit in your room safe, not that we had any problem with staff stealing on board. In fact, I inadvertantly left money on the bathroom sink (don't ask) and it was placed in a drinking glass and put on the counter!

3. the internet cafes were not that convenient in the areas you'll be visiting with the possible exception of Vienna and you really musn't spend one minute of your "Viennese time" in a cyber cafe!!!!

 

Hope this helps....IMHO: it's vacation, one of the reasons you go is so no one can contact you and that includes e-mail. You'll have CNN on the tv in your room and believe me that's enough!!!

 

Have a wonderful trip!:) :)

[bcvcus]

Hi Hydrokitty,

 

Thank you for the excellent overview of your trip. We are taking the same trip in May 2009. Could you tell me how many people were on the tours with you? How was the pace of the tours? Thanks

[Hydrokitty]

Hi Hydrokitty,

 

Thank you for the excellent overview of your trip. We are taking the same trip in May 2009. Could you tell me how many people were on the tours with you? How was the pace of the tours? Thanks

 

 

We had about 120 people with us and we split into three groups for all the tours. Each group had its own tour manager and if you're lucky you'll get Lubo, who was absolutely fantastic!!! There were three program managers on board and the groups traveled on their own buses just about all the time. This was nice because a: you could leave stuff on the bus and b: you and your tour director got to know each other well enough to handle any problems or situations that arose. Pacing was very easy for most people. I was recovering from a very bad ankle fracture and even though I had I had serious hiking boots, the cobblestones were very difficult for me. I tell you this because I only missed one walking tour due to the ankle, and truth to tell that was really an excuse! It was Passau and after about 10 minutes I just couldn't handle any more history, I needed to shop!! When I returned to the ship they called a taxi for me so I wouldn't miss the organ recital (which is not to be missed) and I actually beat the group to the church. None of the tours was difficult. All of them were fun and entertaining. Some (IMHO) not to be missed are: the cable car Niederwald; Schoenbrun Palace (both included) and the monastery/brewery that I mentioned above. It was one of the best meals we had on the trip, the beer was amazing and the tour just long enough, the boat ride back through the Danube Gorge was worth the cost of this optional tour. Their were one or two "pub" crawls, which we did not go on 'cause it's not our thing, but those who went seemed to have fun. any other questions, feel free to ask. I promise to check the thread a little more often!!:D

[Ocala]

Hi Hydrokitty! Nice review! We are on the Vantage Navigator for the November Wine & Cusine trip. We took Vantage Discovery last year for the W&C cruise (different itinerary) and enjoyed it so much we are doing it again!

 

You're right! The only lunch that was lousy was the BLT! Everything else was spectacular!

 

Did the Odyssey (which I understand was renovated over the off-season) have a 24hr coffee machine? I've tried to contact any Navigator traveler this year and, I guess, no one either reads Cruise Critic or is a "non-participant" on the board. Same with my Roll Call - nothing!

 

Glad you had a nice trip! Cheers //Ocala//

[Hydrokitty]

Hi Hydrokitty! Nice review! We are on the Vantage Navigator for the November Wine & Cusine trip. We took Vantage Discovery last year for the W&C cruise (different itinerary) and enjoyed it so much we are doing it again!

 

You're right! The only lunch that was lousy was the BLT! Everything else was spectacular!

 

Did the Odyssey (which I understand was renovated over the off-season) have a 24hr coffee machine? I've tried to contact any Navigator traveler this year and, I guess, no one either reads Cruise Critic or is a "non-participant" on the board. Same with my Roll Call - nothing!

 

Glad you had a nice trip! Cheers //Ocala//

 

Yes, Ocala, the Odyssey had a 24h coffee, tea and hot chocolate machine, actually two of them. They're located in the lounge as you enter, one on either side. Never tried the coffee but the hot chocolate was the best I've ever had!

 

Wine and cuisine sounds great. Can't wait to hear about it.

 

I haven't been successful with Roll Call either....I never had any on the trip I'm taking in January and I responded to one for Castles and got one response.

 

Have a wonderful time. :D

[pacmom]

Hydrokitty,

 

Just curious, you say you're going on a river cruise in Jan. Which one. Would really like to hear about it. Pat

[Ocala]

Hydrokitty: Thanks for the response! Yeah, that hot chocolate was super, especially after a cold day touring! The crew also gave out hot-spiced wine on particularly cold days as we returned.

 

Our traveling friends will be disappointed with email-only internet since he is in so many sports fantasy teams. Me? No newspaper, no email, no nothing will be great!

 

I'll write a short review on our return and elaborate more if there is any interest.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write a review! Cheers //Ocala//

[Crowsnesters]

We have been back from our Vantage Budapest to Amsterdam cruise for a month and have not posted any thing. So I thought it's about time. We really enjoyed the whole trip. Unlike the pre-cruise and post-cruise customer service everyone (crew, program managers, guides) were extremely helpful and professional.

We had "suite" because we spend more time in the room than most. It was well worth the extra for us. I loved watching the river go by from our room. Really that was one of highlight for us.

We thought the food was quite good and had variety considering the size of the kitchen. I enjoy eating food that is different from what I get at home. I was looking forward to being able to have cheese and good whole grain bread for breakfast and was not dissappointed. We are tea drinkers ( strong but not bitter with milk and sugar.) We brought our own tea, but knew it would be probable still be difficult. Once the servers realize we wanted hot water poured over tea bag it was no problem at breaskfast, but the water at dinner simply wasn't hot enough. The instant hot water in the lounge made a great cup of tea and coffee maker in our room(suite perk) did OK.

We really liked how easy is was on the tours to leave the group early or not go on the tour at all, and how much free time we had.

I need to quite now, and fix dinner.

[cruisemom123]

thanks for the discription of your trip

 

do we need suit jackets for dinner

[cruisemom123]

this wil be our first canal trip

 

thanks for all the hints

 

Linda and Tim

[Crowsnesters]

You do not need a suit jacket for dinner. Some men wore them for the 2 "dresser" evenings but even then not a majority.

[cruisemom123]

thnaks for the reply Tim can bring a nice shirt and a tie easier to pack that the suit jacket

 

how fancy do the ladies get?????

 

this wil be our first canal cruise

we did a viking river last year on the Yantsee

 

we might want to do a danube at xmas ina few years

thanks

 

linda and tim

[Hydrokitty]

Hi Cruisemom, sorry I didn't read this sooner but as to the ladies dressing, some got more dressed up than others of course, but no one really "dressed to the nines". I had a pair of black pin striped jeans that I wore with a white summer sweater that had a little beading on the front. Dressed it up with fancy earrings and black flats and that served well for Captain's welcome and farewell dinners. I really think the only "rule" would be no shorts for dinner or tee shirts for dinner. Enjoy your trip. Can't wait to hear about your experience.